Neighbour further down the hill still burns coal, if the wind blows the wrong way then it properly stinks.

Neighbour further down the hill still burns coal, if the wind blows the wrong way then it properly stinks.

But it’s his God-given right to do it and anyone who objects is a member of the metropolitan elite or a pinko or a bit effeminate or unpatriotic or something.

Not really coal is the work of the devil.

But I do laugh at some of the never smelt this before in my town…

Are you incredibly young ? Or is it the old 8 year human memory cycle at work. I’m not even ALL that old and when I grew up it was normal to smell smoke on the air as many of the houses in town still used solid fuel for primary heat.

Are you incredibly young ? Or is it the old 8 year human memory cycle at work. I’m not even ALL that old and when I grew up it was normal to smell smoke on the air as many of the houses in town still used solid fuel for primary heat.

I actually quite like the smell. Takes me back to being a kid. Toasting crumpets on my grandparents open fire on a Sunday evening.

Peat fires smell good too to me.

I see your three trees and raise you a couple. I do live kind of in the middle of nowhere though.

I’m early (mid) forties, but I grew up on a typical mid 60s Jelson estate on the edge of a village. Much of the original part of the village was heated by solid fuel but being on the edge and mostly upwind meant I never noticed.

My Dad talks about growing up in a city in the late 40s and early 50s where, on occasion, late autumn fog combined with coal smoke and early sunset to make it nearly impossible to walk down the street. Having to feel out for walls, kerbs etc to know where you were. He’s one of the few Boomers I know who has absolutely no hankering for ‘the good old days’ because there was no such thing.

Tree murderers!

But I do laugh at some of the never smelt this before in my town…

I think it will depend somewhat on where you live. Where I was brought up it was pretty much non-existent until the relatively recent trend. Next to canals with tied up houseboats can be pretty unpleasant if there is an inversion keeping everything close to ground.

Interesting blog from Bristol on the impact of wood burners on air pollution (and health)

https://www.bristolhealthpartners.org.uk/blog/2019/12/06/woodburners-the-uncomfortable-truth/1291

He’s one of the few Boomers I know who has absolutely no hankering for ‘the good old days’ because there was no such thing.

My parents are the same. They grew up in London in the 50s, and used to be sent to school with a damp handkerchief to cover their nose and mouth. My mum remembers using gateposts and walls to feel her way along the street.